by H D Forth
I decided to not give in to her fantasy. “Have you ever got dust in your eyes?” I asked her, she didn't answer. “Personally I remember that I used to squint my eyes to avoid anything annoying them. Like she was doing, slightly squint because they had irritated by all the dust, and other shit you find in an old apartment building.”
There was a long moment of quiet. “And the touch?”
“On my arm? That was hardly flirty. Just like there are some people that aren't touchy, some are.” I explained easily.
She was quiet for a long while. At one point I heard her get up from the computer and step away. Then I heard her laughing.
Finally she returned all quiet and calm. “You are fucking hopeless.”
“And you are rude.” I answered promptly, causing her to let out another snort of laughter.
“Val was right. Suggestions and hints isn't enough for you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Case. In. point.”
Chapter One Hundred Three
He was ready to make his move. The ground had settled after Trace's arrest. The word had spread about the credits that had been spread out after their arrest. More people had come to join the Tenners, and more people had started to show real signs of respect. He had them.
There was only one thing left to do before he had wholly solidified his hold on the little criminals. He had a hero to take down, he just needed the right opportunity. Now it was a waiting game. That was the trick with a hero.
You could quite easily kill a hero, and he would never bother you again. But his friends would and just the general population that liked him, and that was bad for you.
But a hero’s life wasn't easy, there would be plenty of ups and downs for any hero. You just had to wait and be ready to spot the right moment. His little MagAI was young and inexperienced, just starting to gain in confidence.
Leric didn't know what it would be. His first rejection that would shatter his confidence so he would go out to fight off his frustration. Or maybe his long term girlfriend would find out and they would break up.
It didn't matter, one way or another he would end up on the streets, ready to brawl. That was when Leric would strike. He just hoped he wouldn't have to wait too long.
A few months wouldn't be a long time to wait for him, but for the youths in the building, it would amount to nearly the same as years. He still remembered what it had been like to be their age, gods what a fool he had been then.
He was currently standing in a small room he had taken for himself on the second floor. He had made sure that everyone knew this was his room.
They would have to have a damn good reason to disturb him in here. This was where he was alone. This was where he thought. This was where he spoke to Lady Magra.
Leric blinked. For a moment the bed seemed much smaller than should be. He remembered it as vast, big enough to swallow him up in. His left leg and arm started throbbing before a sudden twitch in his leg almost brought him to the ground. Only a steadying hand on his too small bed was what kept him from loudly crashing to the floor.
Why was that a bad thing again? Where were all his posters? Leric realized that his parents must've taken them down. But the room was too small for it to be his room, yet what other room could it be. He felt another twitch in his arm, causing his hand to accidentally squeeze onto the mattress, tearing four finger-sized holes in it.
Focus. That he recognized.
“Lady Magra.” He rumbled. For a moment, his own deep voice shocked him.
But then why should it. Leric had sounded like that for years. He started feeling pins and needles in his left arm and leg like they had been asleep and not twitching just moments ago.
This wasn't his childhood home, this wasn't his old room. He hadn't been there for a long time, and he would for a long time to come.
“Lady Magra.” He mumbled, “What was that?”
I believe that was the build-up from your magic reserve finally unleashing itself. She replied.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked. “My magic? You mean the power that changed me?”
Yes, the power that changed you. The very same power you still draw upon to strengthen yourself and heal. You'll need to bring from it more often and harder to avoid such situations in the future.
That was highly disturbing. If Leric was prone to sudden seizures because his own body couldn't control the magic within himself, then that put many of his plans in danger.
“Why’d it only happen now?” He asked.
You have been using your power, less in the last week than you have in the previous span. It has always happened, this is just the first time it has had this much power to work with. Magra explained.
Leric shook his head, trying to clear his mind as he got to his feet. He would just have to be careful then. Regularly use his power, even if it wasn't entirely necessary. “Are their other ways to stop it.”
None that you have the current training, or ability for.
“Thank you for your great help milady," Leric said, bowing even though she was lodged in his arm. It could never hurt to be too courteous.
Chapter One Hundred Four
Kani blinked as the noise slammed into her ears again and again. "Stop," she mumbled weakly flinging her arms around for her phone. It wasn't until she realized that she was still wearing her clothes, that she found it in her pocket.
She stared at the phone for a moment. It was the middle of the night, why had she set an alarm for this time? Then some semblance of memory returned to her.
She hadn't been able to sleep, so she had gone to work on the skin technology for MagAI. It had actually worked surprisingly well. She had been a little worried that it would be too thick around the fingers, but the end result looked like Vanys' hand usually did.
“Vanys!” She exclaimed sitting up. He had been there, he was the one that had carried her up into the bedroom. But why had he been there in the middle of the night?
She bolted out of bed. Before she really thought through what she was doing, she was down the stairs. It was gone. "Damn him!" She yelled. He had taken her gift for him. She wanted to punch something but knew that to be a bad idea.
She surveyed the room. There was something on the table. It was the note she had written for Vanys, except someone, Vanys likely, had written on the back. Broken metal pieces were also scattering the table. “Is that…?” She picked up something that looked like it once was a pin.
She stared for a moment, before looking for the biggest tool she had brought along. It was gone, the bolt cutter was gone. She sighed loudly, before sitting down and reading the note he'd left, then she reread it.
"You bird brained, piece of- argh!" She yelled unable to finish the sentence, more panic than anger. He was going out to fight Leric again because of course, he was. If he wasn't stupid, then he was doing his best to trick her.
She pulled up her laptop and turned it on. She immediately launched the Monitor program, since he had never turned it off before. And he hadn't now. She was worried at what she saw, Leric was absolutely massive, easily towering over Vanys.
“I should call Val.” She said. She slapped her pockets for her phone, but it wasn't there. She hadn't put it back in her pocket after stopping the alarm.
Reluctantly she turned away from the screen, she almost stopped when she saw Vanys charge Leric. Somehow though she managed to detach herself and get moving.
Soon enough she was up to the stairs again, breathing a little heavily. After digging around the blanket covering the bed for a little too long, she finally pulled out her phone. She immediately set to calling Val.
She was downstairs before Val answered her phone. It took some time, but Kani managed to fill Val in on all the details she required, though she stumbled through some of them as she wasn't used to giving reports to someone. She determined that she would have to get better at relaying important information quickly.
Leric was changing
, that much was obvious. Something was very wrong with him, probably that thing on his arm. Kani swallowed as she pulled on the headset and open communication with Vanys.
“Vanys? Are you okay?” She asked him. The view on the screen jerked. She pulled up some telemetrics on his current status, it wasn't looking good.
“I need your help Kani.” He whispered.
A wan smiled spread on her lips, she really hoped Val could pull something brilliant out. “Of course you do.” She knew she didn't sound very convincing, but it was all she got.
“I’m not sure what to do K.” He replied. At least he only her name slip once, it might be overlooked if they’re lucky.
"I-" She started to say that she wasn't sure either but stopped herself, that wasn't what he needed to hear. "You need to draw that last weapon of yours," she said instead.
“Last weapon?” He asked.
"In your leg, the wrench," There was a beat of silence, before she saw the leg holster open in her status window. She heard the sound of ripping cloth over the mic, and the slot closed again.
"Right." He replied. He sounded maybe slightly embarrassed, which in any other situation might've made her giggle. She pushed down a surge of fear as she saw the big man-like monster approach.
“Please don’t die,” She muttered after muting her microphone.
Chapter One Hundred Five
Kani blinked as the noise slammed into her ears again and again. “Stop,” she mumbled weakly flinging her arms around for her phone. It wasn’t until she realized that she was still wearing her clothes that she found it in her pocket.
She stared at the phone for a moment. It was the middle of the night, why had she set and alarm for this time? Then some semblance of memory returned to her.
She hadn’t been able to sleep so she had gone to work on the the skin technology. It had actually worked surprisingly well. She had been a little worried that it would be too thick around the fingers, but the end result looked like Vanys’ hand did normally.
“Vanys!” She exclaimed sitting up. He had been there, he was the one that had carried her up into the bedroom. But why had he been there in the middle of the night?
She bolted out of bed. Before she really thought through what she was doing she was down the stairs. It was gone. “Damn him!” She yelled. He had taken her gift for him. She wanted to punch something, but knew that to be a bad idea.
She surveyed the room. There was something on the table. It was the note she had left him, except someone, Vanys likely, had written on the back. Broken metal pieces were also scattering the table. “Is that…?” She picked up something that looked like it once was a pin.
She stared for a moment, before looking for the biggest tool she had brought along. It was gone, the bolt cutter was gone. She sighed loudly, before sitting down and reading the note he’d left, then she read it again.
“You bird brained, piece of- argh!” She yelled, more panic than anger. He was going out to fight Leric again, because of course he was. If he wasn't stupid then he was doing his best to trick her.
She pulled up her laptop and turned it on. She immediately launched the Monitor program, since he had never turned it off before. And he hadn't now. She was worried at what she saw, Leric was absolutely huge easily towering over Vanys.
“I should call Val.” She said. She slapped her pockets for her phone, but it wasn't there. She hadn't put it back in her pocket after stopping the alarm. Reluctantly she turned away from the screen, she almost stopped when she saw Vanys charge Leric. Somehow though she managed to detach herself and get moving.
Soon enough she was up the stairs again, breathing a little heavily. After digging around the blanket covering the bed for a little too long, she finally pulled out her phone. She immediately set to calling Val.
She was downstairs, before Val answered her phone. It took some time, but she managed to fill Val in on all the details she required, though she did stumble through some of them as she wasn't used to giving reports to someone. She determined that she would have to get better at relaying important information quickly.
Leric was changing, that much was obvious. Something was very wrong with him, probably that thing on his arm. Kani swallowed as she pulled on the headset and open communication with Vanys.
“Vanys? Are you okay?” She asked him. The view on the screen jerked. She pulled up some telemetrics on his current status, it wasn't looking good.
“I need your help Kani.” He whispered.
A wan smiled spread on her lips, she really hoped Val could pull something brilliant out. “Of course you do.” She knew she didn't sound very convincing, but it was all she got.
“I’m not sure what to do K.” He replied. At least he only her name slip once, it might be overlooked if they’re lucky.
“I-” She started to say that she wasn't sure either, but stopped herself, that wasn't what he needed to hear. “You need to draw that last weapon of yours,” she said instead.
“Last weapon?” He asked.
“In your leg, the wrench,” There was a beat of silence, before she saw the leg holster open in her status window.
“Right.” He replied. He sounded maybe slightly embarrassed, which in any other situation might’ve made her giggle. That at least she could be for him, if he got out of this one alive that is. She swallowed as she saw the large man-like monster approach.
“Please don’t die,” She muttered after muting her microphone.
Chapter One Hundred Six
He was ready to make his move. The ground had settled after Trace’s arrest. The word had spread about the credits that had been spread out after their arrest. More people had come to join the Tenners, and more people had started to showing real signs of respect. He had them.
There was only one thing left to do before he had completely solidified his hold on the little criminals. He had a hero to take down, he just needed the right opportunity. Now it was a waiting game. That was the trick with a hero.
You could quite easily kill a hero and he would never bother you again. But his friends would and just the general population that liked him, and that was bad for you. But a hero’s life wasn't easy, there would be plenty of ups and downs for any hero. You just had to wait and be ready to spot the right moment. His little MagAI was young and inexperienced, just starting to gain in confidence.
Leric didn't know what it would be. His first rejection, that would shatter his confidence so he would go out to fight off his frustration. Or maybe his long term girlfriend would find out and they would break up. It didn't matter, one way or another he would end up on the streets, ready to brawl. That was when Leric would strike. He just hoped he wouldn't have to wait too long.
A few months wouldn't be a long time to wait for him, but for the youths in the building it would amount to nearly the same as years. He still remember what it had been like to be their age, gods what a fool he had been.
He was currently standing in a small room he had taken for himself on the second floor. He had made sure that everyone knew this was his room. They would have to have a damn good reason to disturb him in here. This was where he was alone. This was where he thought. This was where he spoke to Lady Magra.
Leric blinked. For a moment the bed seemed much smaller than should be. He remembered it as huge, bug enough to swallow his up in. His left leg and arm started throbbing before a sudden twitch in his leg almost brought him to the ground. Only a steadying hand on his too small bed was what kept him from loudly crashing to the floor.
Why was that a bad thing again? Where were all his posters? Leric realized that his parents must’ve taken them down. But the room was too small for it to be his room, yet what other room could it be. He felt another twitch in his arm, causing his hand to accidentally squeeze onto the mattress, tearing four finger sized holes in it.
Focus. That he recognized.
“Lady Magra.” He rumbled. For a moment, his own deep voice shocked him.
But then
why should it. He had sounded like that for years. He started feeling pins and needles in his left arm and leg, like they had been asleep and not twitching just moments ago. This wasn't his childhood home, this wasn't his old room. He hadn't been there in a long time, and he would for a long time to come.
“Lady Magra.” He mumbled, “What was that?”
I believe that was the build up from your magic reserve finally unleashing itself. She replied.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked. “My magic? You mean the power that changed me?”
Yes, the power that changed you. The very same power you still draw upon to strengthen yourself and heal. You’ll need to draw from it more often and harder to avoid such situations in the future.